APHASIA is the term which has recently been given to the loss of the faculty of articulate language, the organs of phonation and of articulation, as well as the intelligence, being unimpaired. The pathology of this affection is at the present time the subject of much discussion in the scientific world; the French Academy devoted several of their séances during the year 1865 to its special elucidation, and the Medical Journals of France and of our own country have lately contained a good deal of original matter bearing upon this obscure feature in cerebral pathology. [Frederic Bateman, M.D., "Aphasia," London, 1868]

"point farthest from the sun" (of a celestial body's orbit), 1670s, a Grecianized form of Modern Latin aphelium, altered by Johannes Kepler based on Greek apo heliou "away from the sun," from apo "away from" (see apo-) + heliou, genitive of helios "sun" (see sol). The whole was formed on the model of Ptolemaic apogaeum (see apogee) to reflect the new helio-centric model of the universe.

1884, Englished from Modern Latin aphides, plural of aphis, coined by Linnaeus (1758), though where he got it and why he applied it to the plant louse are mysteries. The theory favored by OED as "least improbable" is that it derives from the plural of Greek apheides "unsparing, lavishly bestowed," in reference either to the "prodigious rate of production" of the insects or their voracity. They also are known as ant-cows.

An aphorism is a short, pithy statement containing a truth of general import; an axiom is a statement of self-evident truth; a theorem is a demonstrable proposition in science or mathematics; an epigram is like an aphorism, but lacking in general import. Maxim and saying can be used as synonyms for aphorism.

1719, from Greek aphrodisiakos "inducing sexual desire," from aphrodisios, "pertaining to Aphrodite; sexual pleasure; a temple of Aphrodite," Greek goddess of love and beauty. As an adjective from 1830 (earlier was aphrodisical, 1719)

Greek goddess of love and beauty; by the ancients, her name was derived from Greek aphros "foam," from the story of her birth, but perhaps it is ultimately from Phoenician Ashtaroth (Assyrian Ishtar). In 17c. English, pronounced to rhyme with night, right, etc.

1650s, from Latin apiarium "beehouse, beehive," neuter of apiarius "of bees," from apis "bee," a mystery word unrelated to any similar words in other Indo-European languages. A borrowing from Semitic has been proposed.

"assurance, confidence," 1828, from French aplomb (16c.), literally "perpendicularity," from phrase à plomb "poised upright, balanced," literally "on the plumb line," from Latin plumbum "(the metal) lead" (see plumb (n.)), of which the weight at the end of the line was made.

late 14c., "revelation, disclosure," from Church Latin apocalypsis "revelation," from Greek apokalyptein "uncover, disclose, reveal," from apo- "from" (see apo-) + kalyptein "to cover, conceal" (see Calypso). The Christian end-of-the-world story is part of the revelation in John of Patmos' book "Apokalypsis" (a title rendered into English as "Apocalypse" c. 1230 and "Revelations" by Wyclif c. 1380).

Its general sense in Middle English was "insight, vision; hallucination;" meaning "a cataclysmic event" is modern. As agent nouns, apocalypst (1829), apocalypt (1834), and apocalyptist (1835) have been tried.

1660s, "pertaining to the 'Revelation of St. John' in the New Testament," from Greek apokalyptikos, from apokalyptein
(see apocalypse). Meaning "pertaining to the imminent end of the world" evolved by 1880s.

late 14c., neuter plural of Late Latin apocryphus "secret, not approved for public reading," from Greek apokryphos "hidden; obscure," thus "(books) of unknown authorship" (especially those included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as genuine by the Jews), from apo- "away" (see apo-) + kryptein "to hide" (see crypt). Properly plural (the single would be Apocryphon or apocryphum), but commonly treated as a collective singular.

"point at which the moon is farthest from the earth," 1590s, from French apogée, from Latin apogaeum, from Greek apogaion, neuter adjective, "away from the earth," a term from Ptolemaic astronomy, from apo "off, away" (see apo-) + gaia/ge "earth" (see Gaia). Adjective forms are apogeal, apogean.

Olympian deity, god of music, poetry, medicine, etc., later identified with Helios, the sun god; the name is a Latin form of Greek Apollon, said to be perhaps related to an obsolete Greek verb meaning "to drive away" (evil, etc.) [Klein, citing Usener].

The original English sense of "self-justification" yielded a meaning "frank expression of regret for wrong done," first recorded 1590s, but this was not the main sense until 18c. The old sense tends to emerge in Latin form apologia (first attested in English 1784), especially since J.H. Newman's "Apologia pro Vita Sua" (1864).